MBTA focuses on suicide prevention

THE ISSUE: Since July, trains have struck and killed 11 people in Massachusetts.

THE IMPACT: The MBTA is working with suicide prevention organizations and other partners to identify ways to reduce accidental deaths and suicides on its tracks.

Gerry Tuoti Wicked Local Newsbank Editor

A recent surge in the number of suicides and accidental deaths on Massachusetts train tracks has transit officials and suicide prevention advocates searching for answers.

“I can’t tell you why there’s been this increase on the railways,” said Steve Mongeau, executive director of the suicide-prevention organization Samaritans. “One of the challenges in the suicide prevention arena is there has not been a significant amount of research done specifically on railways.”

As of Oct. 16, trains struck and killed 11 people on MBTA Commuter Rail tracks since July 1, according to the transit agency. In fiscal 2017, there were 19 fatal train strikes statewide, more than double the nine fatalities in fiscal 2016. The MBTA did not release information on how many of the deaths were suicides and how many were accidental, but officials have in the past indicated more than half are likely suicides.

Samaritans has had a partnership with the MBTA for the past 15 years and intensified its outreach and advocacy efforts last year. Since then, Samaritans’ suicide prevention phone and text support line, 877-870-HOPE (4673), has been displayed on electronic billboards and on signs at MBTA stations and on trains.

While there’s no hard data on how many people those signs have reached, Mongeau said there are anecdotes showing they have helped.

“We’ve had phone conversations with people saying, ‘I was going to kill myself tonight, but saw your number at the train station,’” Mongeau said. “One gentleman said he was going to jump in front of a train, but we were able to talk to him and get him help.”

Based on preliminary 2016 data from the Federal Railroad Administration, Massachusetts ranked 15th nationally in the number of pedestrian deaths resulting from trespassing on train tracks.

In the event of a collision with a pedestrian, Keolis, which operates the commuter rail, offers counseling services to the train conductors and crews.

Increased use of physical barriers and the addition of motion detectors to alert the train conductor of a pedestrian on the tracks are tools that could potentially reduce suicides and accidental deaths on the tracks, Mongeau said. He described a program in California, for example, that uses cameras on certain sections of tracks to notify train conductors if a person is present. A new committee in Massachusetts is expected to explore tools and strategies to reduce collisions on MBTA tracks.

In many areas, effectively restricting pedestrian access to train tracks is a difficult proposition, said MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

“Like every railroad network in the world, the MBTA Commuter Rail system has a number of areas that are unrestricted (137 train station platforms and more than 250 at-grade street crossings along hundreds of miles of tracks),” Pesaturo said in an email. “This is why railroad operators around the world focus on education and public awareness in efforts to deter and prevent trespassing.”

In recent years, there has been an average of approximately 600 suicides per year in Massachusetts, a number that increased sharply over the past decade. From 2004 to 2014, the state’s suicide rate rose 40 percent, according to a report the state Department of Public Health released in February.

The MBTA announced last month that it was forming a committee to research and create recommendations to reduce fatal collisions with pedestrians. The committee includes representatives from the MBTA, Keolis, the Volpe Center, Samaritans, Operation Lifesaver and the DPH.

“To increase awareness, the MBTA and Keolis have built strong relationships with groups like Operation Lifesaver and Samaritans,” he said. “Working with its partners, the MBTA will keep informing the public about inherent risks associated with being on active railroad rights-of-way. Partnering with Samaritans, the MBTA will continue to display important information around the system, letting people know that help is only a phone call away.”